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Ulver Cancel June West Coast Tour Dates

Posted in Whathaveyou on May 10th, 2019 by JJ Koczan

ulver (photo Ingrid Aas)

This sucks, and I have to say, if Ulver are scratching their heads a bit about why they have to cancel their upcoming West Coast run, so am I. Aside from the ongoing critical saliva they inspire, the long-running Norwegian experimentalists are a pretty big deal. They did two New York shows and by all accounts they went off without a hitch. So what’s up, West Coast?

I tend to think of the Pacific Seaboard as where it’s at currently for general appreciation of the various stripes of underground music. Portland, Denver, San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle. Some of these are places Ulver were set to go, and here they are, forked tail between their legs, citing low ticket sales for canceling the tour. That’s a bummer for any band, let alone one who’s been at it so long and had reaped the kind of praise they have.

Too sunny out west, maybe?

ulver west coast shows

ULVER – THE SWALLOWING OF PRIDE

We come bearing difficult news: after many frustrating phone calls and deliberations over this last week, we have decided to pull the plug on our upcoming US West Coast run. Modern media protocol suggests we trump up a reason, other than the depressing reality: pre-sales are too modest up against the rather big risk, given the size of the production and the venues.

We feel we just have to be honest about all this. We can not justify going through with all the things we need (flights, nightliner, backline, TM, tech, lasers, lights, and so on) in light of the poor prospects. It has left our promoters, booking agents, management, and now us, a bit baffled. Especially considering two full houses in NYC in March.

Despite our problems getting laser permits for those gigs, we think the trip turned out to be a success, and we would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who came to the Big Apple. Hopefully it will not be our last visit in the US.

Did we announce too soon after NYC? Should we have announced sooner? Maybe we waited altogether too many years, before finally making it across the pond? One can speculate, of course, but it doesn’t do much good at this point.

We feel it would be irresponsible to ignore the warnings and go over knowing that promoters (and us) will loose thousand upon thousands of dollars. Money is an absolute drag (except when you have it), but also a stone cold reality when it comes down to organizing these things. We have to take it into account, unfortunately.

We would like to apologize to all those who have already purchased tickets and who were looking forward to Ulver America pt. 2. Needless to say, your tickets will be refunded. Please know that this hurts us all. Visas have been obtained, paid and approved for everyone, some flights and other things have already been booked, pre-prod has been done and countless hours have gone into organization. It hurts even more since it is the second time in the US (third in our career) that we feel we have no other option than to cancel.

Finally, and most importantly, because we know many out there will be sorely disappointed: this decision was not made with a light heart.

We are very, very sorry.

Ulver, Oslo, May 8, 2019

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Ulver, Sic Transit Gloria Mundi EP (2017)

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Quarterly Review: Ulver, Forming the Void, Hidden Trails, Svvamp, Black Mirrors, Endless Floods, Tarpit Boogie, Horseburner, Vermilion Whiskey, Hex Inverter

Posted in Reviews on March 28th, 2017 by JJ Koczan

cropped-Charles-Meryon-Labside-Notre-Dame-1854

Feeling groovy heading into Day Two of the Spring 2017 Quarterly Review, and I hope you are as well. Today we dig into a pretty wide variety of whatnots, so make sure you’ve got your head with you as we go, because there are some twists and turns along the way. I mean it. Of all five days in this round, this one might be the most wild, so keep your wits intact. I’m doing my best to do the same, of course, but make no promises in that regard.

Quarterly Review #11-20:

Ulver, The Assassination of Julius Caesar

ulver-the-assassination-of-julius-caesar

Norwegian post-everything specialists Ulver have reportedly called The Assassination of Julius Caesar (on House of Mythology) “their pop album,” and while the Nik Turner-inclusive freakout in second cut “Rolling Stone” (that may or may not be him on closer “Comign Home” as well) doesn’t quite fit that mold, the beats underscoring the earlier portion of that track, opener “Nemoralia” and the melodrama of “Southern Gothic” certainly qualify. Frontman/conceptual mastermind Kristoffer Rygg’s voice is oddly suited to this form – he carries emotionally weighted hooks like a melancholy George Michael on the electronically pulsating “Transverberation” and, like most works of pop, shows an obsession with the ephemeral in a slew of cultural references in “1969,” which in no way is likely to be mistaken for the Stooges song of the same name. While “So Falls the World” proves ridiculously catchy, “Coming Home” is about as close as Ulver actually come here to modern pop progression, and the Badalamenti-style low-end and key flourish in “1969” is a smooth touch, much of what’s happening in these eight tracks is still probably too complex to qualify as pop, but The Assassination of Julius Caesar is further proof that Ulver’s scope only grows more boundless as the years pass. The only limits they ever seem to know are the ones they leave behind.

Ulver on Twitter

House of Mythology website

 

Forming the Void, Relic

forming-the-void-relic

Last year, Louisiana four-piece Forming the Void had the element of surprise working to their advantage when it came to the surprising progressive edge of their debut album, Skyward (review here). Now signed to Argonauta, the eight-song/55-minute follow-up, Relic, doesn’t need it. It finds Forming the Void once again working proggy nuance into big-riffed, spaciously vocalized fare on early cuts “After Earth” and “Endless Road,” but as the massive hook of “Biolazar” demonstrates, the process by which guitarist/vocalist James Marshall, guitarist Shadi Omar Al-Khansa, bassist Luke Baker and drummer Jordan Boyd meld their influences has become more cohesive and more their own. Accordingly, I’m not sure they need the 11-minute closing take on Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir,” since by then the point is made in the lumber/plunder of “Plumes” and in the more tripped-out “Unto the Smoke” just before, but as indulgences go, it’s a relatively easy one to make. They’re still growing, but doing so quickly, and already they’ve begun to find a niche for themselves between styles that one hopes they’ll continue to explore.

Forming the Void on Thee Facebooks

Argonauta Records website

 

Hidden Trails, Instant Momentary Bliss

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Though it keeps a wash of melodic keys in the background and its approach is resolutely laid back on the whole, “Beautiful Void” is nonetheless a major factor in the overall impression of Hidden Trails’ self-titled debut (on Elektrohasch), as its indie vibe and departure from the psychedelic prog of the first two cuts, “Lancelot” and “Mutations,” marks a major distinguishing factor between this outfit and Hypnos 69, in which the rhythm section of the Belgian trio played previously. “Ricky” goes on to meld acoustic singer-songwriterism and drones together, and “Hands Unfold” has a kind of jazzy bounce, the bassline of Dave Houtmeyers and drumming of Tom Vanlaer providing upbeat groove under Jo Neyskens’ bright guitar lead, but the anticipation of heavy psych/prog never quite leaves after the opening, and that doesn’t seem to be what the band wants to deliver. The sweetly harmonized acid folk of “Leaving Like That” is on a different wavelength, and likewise the alt-rock vibes of “Space Shuffle” and “Come and Play” and the grunge-chilled-out closer “Denser Diamond.” If there’s an issue with Hidden Trails, it’s one of the expectations I’m bringing to it as a listener and a fan of Houtmeyers’ and Vanlaer’s past work, but clearly it’s going to take me a little longer to get over the loss of their prior outfit. Maybe I’m just not ready to move on.

Hidden Trails on Thee Facebooks

Elektrohasch Schallplatten website

 

Svvamp, Svvamp

svvamp-svvamp

Naturalist vibes pervade immediately from this late-2016 self-titled Svvamp debut (on RidingEasy Records) in the bassline to “Serpent in the Sky,” and in some of the post-Blue Cheer heavy blues sensibility, the Swedish trio bring to mind some of what made early Dirty Streets so glorious. Part of the appeal of Svvamp’s Svvamp, however, is that among the lessons it’s learned from heavy ‘70s rock and from Kadavar‘s own self-titled is to keep it simple. “Fresh Cream” is a resonant blues jam… that lasts two and a half minutes. The bouncing, turning “Oh Girl?” Three. Even the longest of its cuts, the slide-infused “Time,” the subdued roller “Big Rest” and the Marshall Tucker-esque finale “Down by the River,” are under five. This allows the three-piece of Adam Johansson, Henrik Bjorklund and Erik Stahlgren to build significant momentum over the course of their 35-minute run, casting aside pretense in favor of aesthetic cohesion and an organic sensibility all the more impressive for it being their first record. Sweden has not lacked for boogie rock, but even the most relatively raucous moments here, as in the winding “Blue in the Face,” don’t seem overly concerned with what anyone else is up to, and that bodes remarkably well for Svvamp’s future output.

Svvamp on Thee Facebooks

RidingEasy Records website

 

Black Mirrors, Funky Queen

black-mirrors-funky-queen

There are few songs ever written that require whoever’s playing them to “bring it” more than MC5’s “Kick out the Jams.” True, it’s been covered many, many times over, but few have done it well. Belgium’s Black Mirrors signal riotous intent by including it as one of the four tracks of their Napalm Records debut EP, Funky Queen, along with the originals “Funky Queen,” “The Mess” and “Canard Vengeur Masqué,” and amid the post-Blues Pills stomp of “The Mess,” the mega-hook of the opening title-track and the more spacious five-plus-minute closer, which works elements of heavy psych into its bluesy push late to welcome effect, “Kick out the Jams” indeed brings a moment of relative cacophony, even if there’s no actual threat of the band losing control behind the powerful vocals of Marcella di Troia. As a first showing, Funky Queen would seem to be a harbinger, but it’s also a purposeful and somewhat calculated sampling of Black Mirrors’ wares, and I wouldn’t expect it to be long before an album follows behind expanding on the ideas presented in these tracks.

Black Mirrors on Thee Facebooks

Black Mirrors at Napalm Records

 

Endless Floods, II

endless-floods-ii

No doubt that for some who’d take it on, any words beyond “members of Monarch!” will be superfluous, but Bordeaux three-piece Endless Floods, who do indeed feature bassist/vocalist Stéphane Miollan and drummer Benjamin Sablon from that band, as well as guitarist Simon Bedy, have more to offer than pedigree on their three-song sophomore full-length, II (on Dry Cough vinyl and Breathe Plastic cassette). To wit, 24-minute opener and longest track (immediate points) “Impasse” rumbles out raw but spacious sludge that, though without keys or a glut of effects, and marked by the buried-deep screaming of Miollan, holds a potent sense of atmosphere so that the two-minute interlude “Passage” doesn’t seem out of place leading into the 19-minute lumber of “Procession,” which breaks shortly before its halfway point to bass-led minimalism in setting up the final build of the record. Slow churning intensity and longform sludge working coherently alongside ambient sensibilities and some genuinely disturbing noise? Yeah, that’ll do nicely. Thanks.

Endless Floods on Thee Facebooks

Dry Cough Records on Bandcamp

Breathe Plastic Records on Bandcamp

 

Tarpit Boogie, Couldn’t Handle… The Heavy Jam

tarpit-boogie-couldnt-handle-the-heavy-jam

Boasting four eight-plus-minute instrumentals, Couldn’t Handle… The Heavy Jam finds New Jersey trio Tarpit Boogie rife with classic style heavy rock chemistry, bassist John Eager running fills around the dense-toned riffing from guitarist George Pierro as drummer Chris Hawkins propels a surprising thrust on opener “FFF Heavy Jam.” I’ve been a fan of Pierro and Eager’s since we were bandmates a decade ago, so to hear them unfold “Chewbacca Jacket” from its tense opening to its righteously crashing finale is definitely welcome, but the 37-minute offering finds its true reasoning in the swing and shuffle of the eponymous “Tarpit Boogie,” which digs into the very challenge posed by the title – whether or not anyone taking on the album can handle its balance of sonic impact and exploratory feel – inclusive, in this case, of a drum solo that sets a foundation for a moment of Cactus-style rush ahead of a return to the song’s central progression to conclude. They round out with “1992 (Thank You Very Little),” Chevy Chase sample and all, bringing more crashing nod to a massive slowdown that makes it feel like the entire back half of the cut is one big rock finish. And so it is. A well-kept secret of Garden State heavy.

Tarpit Boogie on Thee Facebooks

Tarpit Boogie on Bandcamp

 

Horseburner, Dead Seeds, Barren Soil

horseburner-dead-seeds-barren-soil

The self-released Dead Seeds, Barren Soil is Horseburner’s second full-length, and it arrived in 2016 from the four-piece some seven years after their 2009 debut, Dirt City. They’ve had a few shorter outings in between, demos and 2013’s Strange Giant EP, but the West Virginia four-piece of Adam Nohe, Chad Ridgway, Jack Thomas and Zach Kaufman seem to be shooting for a definitive statement of intent in the blend of heavy rock and modern, Baroness-style prog that emerges on opener “David” and finds its way into the galloping “Into Black Resolution,” the multi-tiered vocals of “A Newfound Purity” and even the more straight-ahead thrust of “The Soil’s Prayer.” Marked out by the quality of its guitar work and its clearly-plotted course, Dead Seeds, Barren Soil caps with “Eleleth,” which at just under eight minutes draws the heft and the complexity together for a gargantuan finish that does justice to the ground Horseburner just flattened as they left it behind.

Horseburner on Thee Facebooks

Horseburner on Bandcamp

 

Vermilion Whiskey, Spirit of Tradition

vermilion-whiskey-spirit-of-tradition

Lafayette, Louisiana, five-piece Vermilion Whiskey telegraph participation in the New Wave of Dude Rock to the point of addressing their audience as “boy” in second cut “The Past is Dead,” and from the cartoon cleavage on the cover to the lack of irony between naming the record Spirit of Tradition and putting a song called “The Past is Dead” on it, they sell that well. The Kent Stump-mixed/Tony Reed-mastered six-tracker is the band’s second behind 2013’s 10 South, and basks in dudely, dudely dudeliness; Southern metal born more out of the Nola style than what, say, Wasted Theory are getting up to these days, but that would still fit on a bill with that Delaware outfit. If you think you’re dude enough for a song like “One Night,” hell, maybe you are. Saddle up. Listening to that and the chunky-style riff of closer “Loaded Up,” I feel like I might need hormone therapy to hit that level of may-yun, but yeah. Coherent, well written, tightly performed and heavy. Vermilion Whiskey might as well be hand-issuing dudes invitations to come drink with them, but they make a solid case for doing so.

Vermilion Whiskey on Thee Facebooks

Vermilion Whiskey on Bandcamp

 

Hex Inverter, Revision

hex-inverter-revision

If the cover art and a song title like “I Swear I’m Not My Thoughts” weren’t enough of a tip-off, there’s a strong undercurrent of the unsettled to Hex Inverter’s second long-player, Revision. The Pennsylvania-based experimentalists utilize a heaping dose of drones to fill out arrangements of keys, guitar and noise that would otherwise be pretty minimal, and vocals come and go in pro- and depressive fashion. Texture proves the key as they embark on the linear centerpiece “Something Else,” with a first verse arriving over a sweetened bassline after four minutes into the total 9:58, and the wash of noise in “Daphne” obscures an avant neo-jazz groove late, so while opener “Cannibal Eyes” basks in foreboding ambience prior to an emotionally-driven and explosive crunch-beat payoff, one never quite knows what to expect next on Revision. That, of course, is essential to the appeal. They find an edge of rock in the aforementioned “I Swear I’m Not My Thoughts,” but as the loops and synth angularity of closer “Fled (Deadverse Mix)” make plain, their intentions speak to something wider than even an umbrella genre.

Hex Inverter on Thee Facebooks

Hex Inverter on Bandcamp

 

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Ulver Confirm April 7 Release for The Assassination of Julius Caesar

Posted in Whathaveyou on February 27th, 2017 by JJ Koczan

ulver-photo-Ingrid-Aas

Perennial residents of their own wavelength Ulver have shored up an April 7 release for their new album, The Assassination of Julius Caesar. The long-running Norwegian progressive post-black metal experimentalist outfit have spent the several years engaged in any number of different kinds of projects, from the 2012 reinterpretations/covers album Childhood’s End through 2016’s sprawlingly improvised ATGCLVLSSCAP and Riverhead film soundtrack, but The Assassination of Julius Caesar will be their first proper studio outing since 2011, and as they engender a cult following few can match, that alone makes it significant, never mind the sonic achievements that are almost certain to show up on the thing itself.

The album was first announced back in October when Ulver was an early add to Roadburn 2017 (info here) in April, but with preorders up and more fest dates carrying them into the summer, it looks like they’ll be plenty busy even aside from that. Sorry, but every time Ulver do anything, it just feels like a landmark. Will hope I get the chance to hear the record.

From the PR wire:

ulver-the-assassination-of-julius-caesar

Ulver announce new album, The Assassination Of Julius Caesar, incoming on House Of Mythology 7 April, live shows on the horizon

Following last year’s release of ATGCLVLSSCAP, a massively acclaimed album of mainly improvisational, rock and electronic soundscapes, comes news of a brand new studio album from Ulver – their first since 2011’s Wars of the Roses.

The Assassination of Julius Caesar arrives on 7th April via House Of Mythology. The album has been recorded and produced by Ulver themselves and mixed by legendary producer Martin ‘Youth’ Glover with Michael Rendall.

Ever evolving, Ulver have never been afraid to make bold musical statements nor to broaden their already expansive sonic palette, and this new album is no exception. We predict that jaws shall drop!

Ulver have some select live performances on the horizon to launch their new album material. Dates as follows:

LIVE SHOWS:-
Friday 21-Apr – Safe As Milk Festival @ Pontins, Prestatyn, Wales
Sunday 23-Apr-2017 – Roadburn Festival @ 013, Tilburg, The Netherlands
Saturday 29-Apr-2017 – Impetus Festival @ Les Docks, Lausanne, Switzerland
Sunday 30-Apr-2017 – Donaufestival 2017 @ Krems, Austria
Thursday 15-Jun-2017 – Dark Mofo Festival @ Hobart, Tasmania
Friday 30-Jun-2017 – Prog Be My Friend! @ Poble Espanyol, Barcelona
…and more to be announced

PRE ORDER:-
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https://www.facebook.com/Ulver-31166220421/
https://twitter.com/ulverofficial
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Ulver, Riverhead OST (2016)

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Ulver to Release Riverhead Soundtrack Dec. 9

Posted in Whathaveyou on December 1st, 2016 by JJ Koczan

It’s been a while at this point, but director Justin Oakey‘s work has been covered here a few times over the years. He’s done videos for the likes of Hexvessel, Canadian experimentalists Godstopper and indeed Norwegian post-everything specialists Ulver — the “Magic Hollow” video (posted here) from the band’s 2012 obscure covers outing, Childhood’s End — who’ve composed the soundtrack to Oakey‘s new film, Riverhead.

In all that I’ve seen of it, Oakey‘s work has always kept a focus on nature and the always-underlying threats thereof, and the quiet, spacious tension Ulver can evoke when they so choose would seem to be a solid fit for that. Frankly, if you need to be sold on the idea of Ulver doing soundtrack work — or, you know, anything — you’re probably not that familiar with what they do. And that’s cool too. Just make sure you approach with an open mind. All the way open.

The PR wire has release details. Ulver‘s Riverhead LP is out Dec. 9 on House of Mythology. There’s a trailer at the bottom of this post as well:

ulver-riverhead-lp

Ulver announce the release of the original motion picture soundtrack Riverhead, out 9th Dec via the House Of Mythology label

Ulver have announced the next chapter in their phenomenal thread of recorded output. On December 9th, the House of Mythology label (that began this year with the launch of their ATGCLVLSSCAP LP, and has since put out records by Hypnopaz?zu, The Stargazer’s Assistant, KKKMO and more) will be releasing Ulver’s original score Riverhead. The feature length crime drama set in the rich historic area of Newfoundland, Atlantic coast Canada follows family blood feuds between communities. Director Justin Oakey has been a fan of the band for some time, and Ulver’s original score for the film was a close collaborative process between the director and the band.

ABOUT THE FILM…

“The North Shore is a particular coastline on the island of Newfoundland that has been in various stages of settlement since the 1500s – it is said to be one of the oldest North American settlements. As Irish and English settlers formed communities, centuries of secular feuding in Europe were inevitably rediscovered in this new land and lead to many years of fighting, rioting, and murder. As a Newfoundlander with deep roots on the island, my family has experienced this conflict first-hand and often tell stories of their rival outports, even warning me to stay away from certain communities as a child. This is the backdrop for Riverhead – an area with a fragile coexistence between communities, where inherited feuds can resurface at any moment.”

ABOUT THE SOUNDTRACK…

“Late last fall I sent Kristoffer Rygg my latest short film, Flankers, and we began chatting about the soundtrack, eventually going back and forth about a potential collaboration. At this point, I went out on a limb and asked if Ulver would be interested in composing the music for my upcoming feature, Riverhead. They kindly accepted and here is the result. As a long-time fan, this was an incredible collaboration for me – and further, it allowed us to find aesthetic and cultural similarities between our lands. With this in mind, the soundtrack certainly touches on Nordic and Celtic folk music from within an ambient/atmospheric frame.

“There was a mutual understanding that the soundtrack should be hushed, airy and ominous, almost elemental in its minimalism, with only a few key moments that rupture into larger, more augmented pieces. As far as the method, Ulver started by recording and sending over some sketches and atmospheres before we shot a single scene of the film. This allowed me to go into the filming with an understanding of the soundtrack, and how the scenes could (and would) be paced – truly an invaluable asset, especially with a fragmented film like this. Afterwards, they continued to record and we fine-tuned said sketches as well as some new pieces together. Ultimately, I am as proud of this collaboration as a standalone project as I am with the film itself.” – Justin Oakey, L’Anse aux Meadows, September 2016

Pre-orders now available via the House Of Mythology store.

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Ulver, Riverhead trailer

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Ulver Post ATGCLVLSSCAP Snippets, Announce More Details

Posted in Whathaveyou on November 16th, 2015 by JJ Koczan

So, rather than try to pronounce ATGCLVLSSCAP, the acronym that serves as a title for Ulver‘s forthcoming collection of live-recorded explorations turned into a full-length album, maybe we can just decide to call it “twelve.” Fair enough.

The Norwegian experimental outfit has put out a flurry of consumable media from the new offering, including three sample videos linked below and two song snippets under the PR wire info, so ahead of the Jan. 22 release of ATGCLVLSSCAP (pronounced “twelve”), they’re giving their audience a substantial glimpse at what’s to come. Presumably this won’t be the last of it either.

Just as important as the videos and audio is the context of the release itself, about which more is learned below:

ulver atgclvlsscap 2

ULVER REVEAL NEW MUSIC, ARTWORK AND PROMO VIDEOS; ATGCLVLSSCAP UPCOMING 22ND JANUARY 2016

Following the recent announcement, House of Mythology proudly releases the new Ulver album in January, ATGCLVLSSCAP, and today we can reveal further details, including a snippet of the new song ‘Cromagnosis’ and ‘Moody Stix’, promo videos and the album artwork.

With over 80 minutes worth of material ATGCLVLSSCAP consists of multitracked and studio-enhanced live, mostly improvisational, rock and electronic soundscapes, 2/3 of which has never been heard before. You can get a taster of this by listening to excerpts of new tracks ‘Cromagnosis’ and ‘Moody Stix’, with links provided below.

There are also three new promo videos available to watch – ULVER “ATGCLVLSSCAP” PROMO #1 + ULVER “ATGCLVLSSCAP” PROMO #2 + ULVER “ATGCLVLSSCAP” PROMO #3 – meaning you can immerse yourself into the world of Ulver even further.

The basis for ATGCLVLSSCAP – which the band has been working with under the moniker ‘12’ – arrives from recordings made at twelve different live shows that Ulver performed in February 2014, in which band the band vaulted into the deep end of an improvisatory approach to their performance. As Kristoffer Rygg, the prime mover of the band since its inception, puts it wryly, “The tour was to be an experiment, kind of loose and scary for a band as ‘set in their ways’ as us.”

Once the tour was over, it was down to his bandmate Daniel O’Sullivan to take charge of these multitrack recordings, sculpting and editing hours of material in his North London enclave, formerly owned by charismatic artist and Coil associate, the sadly departed Ian Johnstone – as O’Sullivan noted, “The hungry ghosts of the now empty house appear to be burrowing into this record.” Anders Møller, Kristoffer Rygg and Tore Ylwizaker got involved a bit later, honing things from their end in Subsonic Society and Oak Hill Studios, Oslo, before the vinyl cutting process took place at THD Vinyl Mastering, also in Oslo, in which the band was fully involved in the crucial initial cut of the 14” lacquer. What resulted is the widescreen sweep and atmospheric splendour of ATGCLVLSSCAP, ultimately a piece of work that exists above and beyond any conventional live recording, rather a hallucinatory travelogue as potent an experience to bear witness to as it was to construct.

By shaking up their creative process, the band have summoned up a unique testimony to the creative power of a mighty force who remain blissfully free of genre or convention, ATGCLVLSSCAP is progressive in the truest sense of the word, a record that may be this capricious band’s pièce-de-resistance.

Ulver’s new album ATGCLVLSSCAP is due for release on January 22nd 2016. Pre orders now live.

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http://www.jester-records.com/ulver/ulver.html
https://www.facebook.com/Ulver-31166220421/
https://twitter.com/ulverofficial
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Ulver, “Cromagnosis” sample

Ulver, “Moody Stix” sample

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Ulver Announce ATGCLVLSSCAP for Jan. 22 Release

Posted in Whathaveyou on October 29th, 2015 by JJ Koczan

Taking its acronym title ATGCLVLSSCAP from the initials of the 12 zodiac signs, the new full-length from Norwegian experimentalists Ulver will be released Jan. 22, 2016, via the new imprint House of Mythology. It’s a 2LP comprised largely of live explorations built on in the studio — what a lot of bands would probably call “jams” — and continues Ulver‘s long-since-established thread of doing whatever the hell they want, or at very least whatever the hell Kristoffer Rygg wants, while remaining utterly brilliant. I’ve heard none of it to-date, but remembering how righteous they were at Roadburn 2012 supporting the then-new covers/interpretations offering, Childhood’s End, and, you know, the rest of their work, brilliance is honestly the safer bet.

Stay tuned for more in-depth critical insight like the above. What’s that? PR wire? Yeah, sure. Here’s the PR wire with much verbiage:

ulver ATGCLVLSSCAP

ULVER? REVEAL DETAILS OF A BRAND NEW ALBUM ATGCLVLSSCAP ON NEW LABEL HOUSE OF MYTHOLOGY JANUARY 22ND 2016

House of Mythology proudly presents the new Ulver gatefold double album vinyl (also available on CD), with over 80 minutes worth of material. This album consists of multitracked and studio-enhanced live, mostly improvisational, rock and electronic soundscapes, 2/3 of which has never been heard before.

In Newton’s basic laws of motion – those which lie at the heart of modern physics – the paradox stands that constant velocity is essentially as natural as being at rest. True to form, in the now twenty-two-year-old life of Ulver, only one constant has remained, that being a forward-driving spirit that has moved this mercurial Norwegian-based collective forever through challenges and adventure anew, irrespective of reductive genre pigeonholing. Moreover, their latest voyage into the unknown is no different, marking another new chapter for an outfit characterised by wild and inspiring unpredictability, along with a fresh triumph for one of modern music’s most iconoclastic forces.

The basis for ATGCLVLSSCAP – which the band has been working with under the moniker ‘12’ – arrives from recordings made at twelve different live shows that Ulver performed in February 2014, in which band the band vaulted into the deep end of an improvisatory approach to their performance. As Kristoffer Rygg, the prime mover of the band since its inception puts it wryly, “The tour was to be an experiment, kind of loose and scary for a band as ‘set in their ways’ as us.”

Although the line-up for these shows remained similar to that on 2012’s psychedelic covers album Childhood’s End, and the band had taken succour from the sounds and headspace they explored on that record, this was another break into new territory, using their live energy and spontaneity as the fuel for aural explorations that would surprise even the band themselves. “At the end of any album process, I can’t wait to do something else,” comments Rygg. ”So yeah, it is partly borne out of that feeling, being a bit bored with the circumstances. It was quite liberating to do something more in the moment. One night a jam could be five minutes, and the next it could be fifteen. We couldn’t have captured these songs in a studio environment.”

Once the tour was over, it was down to his bandmate Daniel O’Sullivan to take charge of these multitrack recordings, sculpting and editing hours of material in his North London enclave, formerly owned by charismatic artist and Coil associate, the sadly departed Ian Johnstone – as O’Sullivan noted, “The hungry ghosts of the now empty house appear to be burrowing into this record.” Anders Møller, Kristoffer Rygg and Tore Ylwizaker got involved a bit later, honing things from their end in Subsonic Society and Oak Hill Studios, Oslo, before the vinyl cutting process took place at THD Vinyl Mastering, also in Oslo, in which the band was fully involved in the crucial initial cut of the 14” lacquer. What resulted is the widescreen sweep and atmospheric splendour of ATGCLVLSSCAP, ultimately a piece of work that exists above and beyond any conventional live recording, rather a hallucinatory travelogue as potent an experience to bear witness to as it was to construct.

As always in the world of Ulver, influences are disparate and diverse, yet as Rygg notes, “It’s quite tributary in a way, there are clear nods to sounds from the past.” Many of these dwell in progressive, electronic and krautrock realms, heralding a lifelong love within the band for the music of the 70s – the fiery mantras of ‘Om Hanumate Namah’ and the motorik drive of ‘Cromagnosis’ draw an astral trajectory between the propulsion of Kraftwerk/Neu! and the ritualistic intensity of prime Amon Düül II, whilst the spirits of both Klaus Schulze and John Carpenter are audible in the electronic soundscapes of ‘Desert/Dawn’, not to mention the Bernard Herrmann touch in the closing ‘Solaris’. Even when the band revisits an earlier gem from 2000’s Perdition City album, as on ‘Nowhere (Sweet Sixteen)’, its reinvigorated by their expansive and emotionally charged approach.

“We always feel like, independently of what kind of instrumentation we use, we’re still playing the same nocturnal stuff,” laughs Rygg. “There are a few motifs that keep recurring all the time in what we do, and if it’s in a rock form or an electronic form, it’s always there.” Yet as true as this may be, by shaking up their creative process, the band have summoned up a unique testimony to the creative power of a mighty force who remain blissfully free of genre or convention, ATGCLVLSSCAP is progressive in the truest sense of the word, a record that may be this capricious band’s pièce-de-resistance. (words by Jimmy Martin)

As a sidenote:

*The album title is an acronym for the twelve signs of the Zodiac, from Aries to Pisces

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Ulver, Childhood’s End (2012)

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